Sunday, October 15, 2017

My small, portable hand-sewing kit is one thing I will never, ever travel without. In recent years I have started including a packet of patches as well. In addition to bits of varied material, I also have an assortment of one-of-a-kind patches I created using photo transfer paper and a bank of intriguing non-copyright images I have collected over the years. Fully armed and ready to stitch, I hit a very hospitable friend's house in London for a ten-day stay. She fed me wonderful food and showed me around the lesser-known neighborhoods of London, and I patched clothes for her and her family. Her glass-ceilinged dining room became my temporary sewing atelier.

Sewing atelier

The mending mania included one pair of ripped jeans for a son willing to embrace non-conventional repairs:

I am happy when I sew, and at this point in my life I cannot imagine traveling anywhere without a sewing kit and a supply of patches in hand. I believe the people wandering around the planet sporting one of my patches are happy also.